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01/04/00- Updated 11:51 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Labor Department has
concluded that companies that let employees work at home are
responsible for federal health and safety violations in home
workspace.
The letter, dated Nov. 15, answered
questions posed by a Texas-based credit services company
planning to have some of its sales executives work at home.
OSHA officials said Tuesday that the
advisory opinion does not mark any change in rules and does
not mean that the government will routinely begin inspecting
home offices. Rather, they said, it clarifies existing laws
that hold employers liable for and require them to report
any worker illnesses or injuries resulting from assigned
duties, even if the workplace is a person's home.
Some large companies already have written
agreements or offer guidelines to telecommuting employees
setting up home offices in recognition of this
responsibility.
In the past, government inspectors have
occasionally visited private homes to investigate
allegations of problems such as sweatshop-type conditions in
apartments converted to workspaces in the garment industry,
for example, or to investigate deaths of at-home workers.
The advisory letter gives examples of the
types of problems companies could be liable for, ranging
from ergonomic injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome,
from improperly configured computer work stations, or fires
caused by overloading home electrical circuits with office
equipment.
''Employers should exercise reasonable
diligence to identify in advance the possible hazards
associated with particular home work assignments and should
provide the necessary protection through training, personal
protective equipment, or other controls appropriate to
reduce or eliminate the hazard,'' said the letter.
''One obvious and effective means of
ensuring employee safety would be periodic safety checks of
employee working spaces'' by companies, the advisory said.
The policy applies specifically to home
work areas and not the entire home. It potentially applies
to nearly 20 million Americans who regularly work from home
for an employer, as well as to those who work at home
occasionally.
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